Developer The Brotherhood, responsible for 2015’s wonderfully atmospheric isometric sci-fi horror Stasis, has unveiled a new trailer for its latest project: lushly rendered post-apocalyptic point-and-click adventure Beautiful Desolation, which is heading to PC soon.
Beautiful Desolation, which entered development after a successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2017, follows the adventures of protagonist Dr. Mark Leslie, described as a “man out of time”, as he searches for his missing brother in a post-apocalyptic future “ruled by highly advanced technologies which are both revered and reviled”.
“Your surroundings hold echoes of a desolate past, and glimpses of a dark future that has yet to be written by your actions,” explains The Brotherhood, “Be prepared to face many tough choices that will shape this land long after you complete your journey.”
According to the developer, responding to a query on Reddit, Beautiful Desolation will, like Stasis, use the classic point-and-click template as its starting point. There are puzzles to solve, conversations to be had, even a codex of alien flora and fauna to fill – but there’s a less linear approach to storytelling, and arena-style turn-based combat is included, albeit as part of an “entirely optional” narrative branch.
Although it’s been some time since I played Stasis, I remember being distinctly impressed by its squalid, darkly oppressive sci-fi horror ambience, which looked fantastic, told an interesting yarn, and managed to be genuinely unsettling in a genre not often known for its scares.
And while there’s only a trailer to go on so far, Beautiful Desolation’s atmospheric pre-rendered visuals look even more spectacular (The Brotherhood also did early concept work for InExile’s upcoming Wasteland 3), featuring striking Africa-inspired world design that blends a retro-futuristic aesthetic with Sub-Saharan flora and fauna.
Beautiful Desolation is scheduled to launch on Steam and GOG sometime in the “early” part of this year (its latest Kickstart update offers a slightly more specific “end of February” release window), and The Brotherhood says it might investigate a console release in the future.
Stasis, incidentally, has a short, free spin-off adventure called Cayne (which I’ve admittedly not had chance to play), should you be at all curious about the developer’s work.
